Mother Parker turns 88!!!

Several weeks ago my mom mentioned that she was thinking about having a birthday party for my grandmother. Mother Parker is my dad's mom and she turned 88 on Sunday, February 19. She still lives by herself, drives herself to the store, doctors appointments and to get her hair done and can remember little details such as the exact time that someone called. Physically she has become pretty weak and feeble but still manages to surprise me at how well she does living alone.

When my mom came to me with the idea of a party, I know she just wanted me to give her ideas and did not expect me to take on so much responsibility. My Aunt Deb, my mom and I put our ideas together and on Sunday afternoon we had a great surprise party. And, even though it was alot of time, work and effort, it was worth it. I know my grandmother was very appreciative of all the work and I'm sure she loved having all her kids and most of her grandkids/great-grandkids all together.

Here are a couple of pictures of my grandmother from when she was younger.



Pictures of the party decor and cake. One of our red balloons ran out of air before it started. The cake was made by my friend, Cynthia Bellar, and it was so good!!! We also had a table set up with pictures of my grandmother from when she was little all the way until now and a digital frame with a slideshow of pictures playing. Somehow I forgot to take a picture of that. We went to about 6 different stores to find enough #8 candles to decorate with. I hot glued clear rhinestones on them and outlined them with silver glitter glue. After they dried I spray painted the back silver. I then put them on dowel rods that had been spray painted and stuck them in floral foam. I think they turned out pretty cute. You can click on the picture to enlarge it.

My Aunt Deb has a friend who put together this amazing pamphlet, filled with fun and interesting facts from 1924, the year in which my grandmother was born.

The front

The inside

The back


Mother Parker with her cake and her "surprised" look as she walked in.

Party guests




Our family

My grandmother, her first husband, and 6 children

My grandmother and her 6 kids
Back: Wayne, Shera, Randy and Jerry
Front: LaTricia, Glenda and Mother Parker


Unfortunately, not everyone was able to attend the party but we did take pictures of the families that were there.






We all had such a nice afternoon visiting, laughing and celebrating such a special mother, grandmother and great-grandmother! We have so many memories of Mother Parker and we hope there will be many more to come!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

On Valentine's morning, the girls woke up to a few fun surprises!! Carlyle was happy with her new monkey and was completely content with a bag of M&M's.




After checking out their goodies, it was off to school. All 3 girls had Valentine's parties so it was a busy afternoon.

We tried for a photo shoot with the 3 Muskateers

Carlyle, Callen and Leighton

We tried for a group shot of all the teachers' kids.
Carlyle, James Thomas, Gage, Leighton, Parker, Charley, Callen, Ella and Brooklyn

After Carlyle's party we left and headed back to Lindale for more partying.


We managed to make it to the first half of Camden's party and then the end of Claire's party.

Camden and Mrs. Morman

Claire and Lindy


My 3 Valentines!!

The fun Valentines I made for all 3 girls' classes. "I dig you!"...with a shovel and m&m's.

Baby Georgia

My dear friend, Kate, now has 4 children!!!! WOW! But, if anybody can handle it, she's the woman!!! Carlyle and I got to meet the newest addition to the Newberry family last week. Miss Georgia is absolutely precious!! She is beautiful, just like her mama and two sisters and seems to be such an easy baby!! Holding her and loving on her almost made me want another baby. And, I just might possibly consider another baby if I could GUARANTEE that it would be an easy, go-with-the-flow, only cry when hungry or in need of a clean diaper, loves to cuddle kind of a baby with NO REFLUX AND NO COLIC!! Those last two requirements were mentioned because of previous experiences, which I would prefer not to discuss:) And, since we all know that there are no guarantees in life, I think I'm pretty happy and content with my 3 little angels!!

When we arrived, Carlyle, Annaleigh and Lily Katherine played together while I got to love on little Georgia! The girls had a great time together and I enjoyed getting to visit with Kate and get my baby fix:)



Kate's sister came over and brought her three kids. Ashley just had a baby a few days before Kate. Laurabeth and Georgia are going to be the best of friends!!

Congratulations to the Newberry Family on the new addition to your family!! Georgia is beautiful and we are so happy for you!!!

Happy Birthday to Mrs. Aubuchon!

Claire's teacher, Mrs. Aubuchon, has a birthday at the end of January. I wanted to have a little surprise party for her. I started working on all the details a couple of weeks before and recruited the ladies in the office to help keep her out of the room so her class could surprise her! It worked like a charm!! Mrs. Aubuchon walked in and all the kids were so excited to yell "SURPRISE"!!! And, since it was actually a day before her birthday, she was even more surprised!! A big thanks to all the ladies that helped to make our surprise a success!! Happy Birthday to an awesome Kindergarten teacher! We love you, Mrs. Aubuchon!!